Company type | Government owned corporation |
---|---|
Industry | Aerospace, nuclear energy, communications, defence |
Founded | September 1, 1976 |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Hugo Albani (President) |
Owner | Río Negro Province government |
Subsidiaries | Black River Technology |
Website | invap |
INVAP S.E. is an Argentine company that provides design, integration, construction and delivery of equipment, plants and devices. The company operates in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and delivers projects for nuclear, aerospace, chemical, medical, petroleum and governmental sectors.
The company is an unlisted private company, the sole owner being the Province of Río Negro. Its headquarters is in San Carlos de Bariloche. As of 2023, INVAP employs some 1,700 employees, 80% of which are highly trained professionals and specialists in their field of expertise. [1]
In 2018 the company was avowed as the most important business from Argentina, winning the Diamond Konex Award.
INVAP was created on September 1, 1976, [2] as a spin-off of the Argentine Atomic Energy Commission, research laboratories division. The name INVAP is a portmanteau of the words investigación aplicada ("applied research" in Spanish).
INVAP was the first company in Latin America certified by NASA (the US (National) Aeronautics and Space Administration) to supply space technologies. [1] It constructs satellites, payloads, and ground stations, including the SAC ("Satelites de Aplicación Científica") satellite family, developed for the Argentine space agency CONAE. INVAP was the first company in Latin America to provide design, development, mission control and operational support. [3]
The SAC-D was put into orbit on June 9, 2011, carrying several scientific payloads, including NASA's $100 million Aquarius project, which will measure the oceans' salinity. [4] ARSAT-1 - the first communications satellite entirely built in Argentina - was launched in 2014, while a second satellite in the series, ARSAT-2 was launched in September 2015. [5] [6]
In the field of nuclear projects, the company specializes in the design and construction of nuclear research reactors, radioisotope production plants, nuclear fuel manufacturing plants, uranium enrichment facilities, neutron beam transport systems, radiation protection instrumentation, reactor protection systems, and modernization and refurbishment of research reactors. INVAP also conducts consultancy and research activities for nuclear power plant suppliers in areas such as nuclear reactor fuels, laser isotope separation, and reactor core reshuffling studies for nuclear power plants.
INVAP has constructed and installed the following nuclear reactors:
Country | Location | Name | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Algeria | Algiers | NUR | Sold to Haut Commisariat pour la Recherche of the Algerian government. |
Argentina | Bariloche | RA-6 | For CNEA. |
Pilcaniyeu | RA-8 | For CNEA. | |
Lima, Zárate [7] | CAREM | For CNEA. | |
Australia | Sydney | OPAL | Sold to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). |
Egypt | Cairo | ETRR-2 | Sold to the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority. |
Peru | Lima | RP-0 | Provision of nuclear instrumentation to the Instituto Peruano de Energía Nuclear. |
Huarangal | RP-10 | Provision of nuclear instrumentation to the Instituto Peruano de Energía Nuclear. | |
Netherlands | Petten [8] | PALLAS | For Pallas foundation. [8] |
In 2009, INVAP and the Spanish group Isolux were pre-selected in an international tender, known as the PALLAS project. This entailed the procurement of an 80 MW nuclear reactor for the Dutch city of Petten [9] (see Petten nuclear reactor ), but in February 2010, the Dutch radiopharmaceutical producer Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG) extended the preparatory phase up to end of the year for financing. [10]
In 2010, INVAP and CITEDEF completed the development and readied for testing a method that used a laser to remove the radioactive components from heavy water which is used to cool nuclear reactors. [11]
On the 24th of January, 2018, INVAP won the international tender for a nuclear research reactor and radioisotope production facility for medical uses in The Netherlands. [12]
The National Atomic Energy Commission is the Argentine government agency in charge of nuclear energy research and development.
The National Space Activities Commission is the civilian agency of the government of Argentina in charge of the national space programme.
The 2006 Argentine nuclear reactivation plan is a project to renew and reactivate the development of nuclear power in Argentina. The main points of the plan were announced by the Argentine government through Planning Minister Julio de Vido during a press conference on 23 August 2006. They include:
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SAOCOM is an Earth observation satellite constellation of Argentina's space agency CONAE. Two satellites are already orbiting the Earth in a Sun-synchronous orbit. The second one was launched on 30 August 2020.
The Argentine railway network consisted of a 47,000 km (29,204 mi) network at the end of the Second World War and was, in its time, one of the most extensive and prosperous in the world. However, with the increase in highway construction, there followed a sharp decline in railway profitability, leading to the break-up in 1993 of Ferrocarriles Argentinos (FA), the state railroad corporation. During the period following privatisation, private and provincial railway companies were created and resurrected some of the major passenger routes that FA once operated.
The TR-1700 is a class of diesel-electric patrol submarines built by Thyssen Nordseewerke for the Argentine Navy in the 1980s, with two submarines completed. These ships are amongst the largest submarines built in Germany since World War II and are among the fastest diesel-electric submarines in the world. ARA San Juan was lost on 17 November 2017, leaving ARA Santa Cruz as the only remaining submarine of this class. As of 2020, the refit of Santa Cruz has been reported cancelled leaving the entire class inactive.
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SAC-D, also known as Aquarius after its primary instrument, is an Argentine Earth science satellite built by INVAP and operated by CONAE. SAC-D was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on 10 June 2011, with a planned mission life of five years. Due to a power system failure, the mission was ended on 8 June 2015.
The Argentine defense industry has developed, over the years, different programs to improve the armed forces of Argentina. The first major steps to establish a defense industry were made during the Second World War and they received a boost during the 1970s after the United States imposed an arms embargo due to human rights violations. The politics of privatization carried out during the 1990s virtually eliminated domestic military production, but many factories were reopened during the last years.
The SABIA-Mar, originally called SAC-E by CONAE, is a dual satellite joint Earth observation mission. The mission objective is to study the oceanic biosphere, its changes over time, and how it is affected by and reacts to human activity. It will focus on the monitoring of ocean surfaces, especially studying the ocean ecosystem, the carbon cycle, and marine habitats, as well as ocean mapping.
ARSAT-1 is a geostationary communications satellite operated by AR-SAT and built by the Argentine company INVAP. ARSAT-1 was launched into orbit on October 16, 2014, from French Guiana alongside Intelsat-30 satellite using an Ariane 5 rocket. It is expected to be located at 72° West longitude geostationary slot. ARSAT-1 is the first geostationary satellite built in Latin America. Total cost of the satellite is 270 million US dollars.
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The Atucha Nuclear Complex, or Atucha Nuclear Power Plant, is the location for two adjacent nuclear power plants in Lima, Zárate, Buenos Aires Province, about 100 kilometres (60 mi) from Buenos Aires, on the right-hand shore of the Paraná de las Palmas River. Both are pressurized heavy-water reactors (PHWR) employing a mixture of natural uranium and enriched uranium, and use heavy water for cooling and neutron moderation.
The Fuel Manufacturing Pilot Plant (FMPP), also known as Fuel Element Fabrication Plant, is a nuclear fuel fabrication facility supplied by the Argentine company INVAP in 1998. The FMPP is considered a Material Testing Reactor (MTR)-type fuel element facility, that produces the fuel elements required for the research reactor ETRR-2.
ARSAT-2 is a geostationary communications satellite operated by ARSAT and built by the Argentine company INVAP. It was launched from French Guiana alongside Sky Muster satellite using an Ariane 5ECA rocket on September 30, 2015 at 20:30hs UTC, becoming the 400th satellite to be launched by Arianespace. It is licensed to be located at 81° West longitude geostationary slot. ARSAT-2 is the second geostationary satellite built in Argentina, after ARSAT-1. Structurally and mechanically it is a copy of the ARSAT-1, the only difference being the payload and thus it has different antenna configuration.
ARSAT SG-1, formerly known as ARSAT-3, is a geostationary communications satellite ordered by ARSAT and being designed by the Argentine company INVAP.
Empresa Argentina de Soluciones Satelitales Sociedad Anónima AR-SAT, usually known simply as ARSAT, is an Argentine government-owned telecommunications company incorporated in 2006 as a Sociedad Anónima through the federal law 26.092. At the time of incorporation, its ownership was shared by the Ministry of Federal Planning, Public Investment and Services (98%) and the Ministry of Economy and Public Finances (2%).
CEATSA, is an Argentine high technology testing company providing environmental testing services to the satellite, aeronautics, electronics, automotive, defense, and energy industries. It is jointly owned by the Argentine government owned telecommunications company ARSAT (80%) and public company INVAP (20%).
The history of science and technology in Argentina covers scientific policies and discoveries made in the country.